Plunder

Let me start by giving you the short review after my first 2 player game. THIS ROCKS!! Seriously it is fantastic. I’m a 38 year old gaming veteran. I was brought up playing simple classics like Hero Quest to more sophisticated games like Warhammer 40k. My preference is somewhere in the middle. This game leans more towards the casual side, but with a casual gaming group and a few beers it’s super fun. Firstly, the graphic design and component quality is off the charts. Everyone says it and it’s true. Thematically it couldn’t get any better, just look at those ships and the beautifully illustrated board pieces! The plastic tray inside the box fits everything perfectly. That in itself is beautiful design. What about the game? Well it’s simple to teach and learn. Yes, you roll dice to attack and move (which I like as to me it represents the wind) but this luck can be mitigated by buying cannons and masts. At the start of the game, my friend lost all his ships and had only 1 port left. He managed to come back and win the game! He got a few canons and bullied me around into trading resources then managed to capture a few difficult islands that I could not take. Yes, with some luck he also scored some great treasure cards. The fact that my friend could even come back from such a bad start was a real highlight and shows great game design. Then there’s the compass spinners. Again, beautiful and thematic. Such a simple way to randomly place the buried treasure which you’ll be racing around the board to collect. However, the spinners are also used to place the storm! I deliberately sailed my prized vessel directly into the storm to collect treasure and escape the double cannons of an enemy ship. The enemy did not have enough resources to enter. I was safe, it worked!! Another great highlight. For the casual gaming audience that want to chat, laugh and sink a few rums this game is a real treat. It’s also VERY reasonably priced in my opinion based on the quality. I can’t wait to play on a bigger map next game with 6 players (3 teams). Oh the chaos!! The fact that the map is randomised each game is also brilliant. My choice for an expansion would be an NPC Pirate Man O' War or a gold Spanish Galleon. In saying that, the game is perfect as it is. It wouldn’t surprise me if some big board gaming company like Hasbro picked this game up (or just hired the designer). It’s a true classic.

This game was a lot of fun. My wife and I have played a couple of involved board games with a few friends of ours about 4-5 times total in our lifetime. My wife and our family with two children 12 and 16 have played Castle Panic and Forbidden Island a couple of times. I liked to play Risk when I was a kid. As a family we have now done 2 escape rooms. Took us 45 easy minutes of set up and rule reading to get going. There were four of us, we spent three hours playing, but my wife moves through her turns like a turtle. The game was easy, a good blend of luck and strategy. Attacks, territories, alliances, bartering, etc... We didn't waste any time going back to reread rules just to figure out game mechanics, it was all pretty apparent. We are a close family and try to have a family night at least once a month. While trying to figure out what our family night should be this month I had the idea of a game night vs going out, which could hav cost hundreds of dollars. Yes we go hiking in State Parks, but we also go hiking in Amusement Parks, we don't do the same thing over and over. We've decided that we will play one game for about 2-3 game nights in a row, so we have a chance to really get to know and develop strategy. Maybe we'll move faster and get two games in the time of one once we are confident. Given our patterns, we might have 2-3 game nights in the next 6-8 months. So this little game will get our famiy through the next 1/2 year or so. If my wife and I have our semi annual game night with some of our friends this year, I'll bring this as an option. Board, spinners, box, dice, game pieces, by all accounts, are excellent. I wouldn't cry about the quality of this. And it is a pirate game that works and is cool. I mean come on.

We have 6 kids, and the oldest 3 (12,10, 9) all play this with my wife and I and it is generally a hit. Key high points: - The materials are generally well made. The ships themselves are well-crafted, solid and have great little details. The cannons and masts are detailed and fit nicely. The rest of it is on the high end of standard for today's games. They are without defects and have held up well to several iterations of the game so far. - The rules are easy to understand and the turns only have a few parts to them. - No one gets 'knocked out' of the game. If you lose your boats and island, you are still involved and can still (theoretically) come back. This is important on family game nights because no kid wants to be out of the game early, especially since this thing can take more than an hour. Drawbacks: - Moving the treasures and almost every turn, and managing the resource bank can both get a little monotonous. - The harder to conquer islands don't provide bonus resources, which is a bummer. - The storm feature, while interesting, could have more impact than just costing a resource. In general, this game is easy enough to learn and fun enough to keep people engaged. Now, I want to respond to a few of the critical reviewers' points. "The game is boring." - So, we have never played it with less than 5 people, and in the larger group, there is only 1 'free' single skull island. This puts people into conflict straight away and spices things up. Yes, you have some turns where you just collect resources, move a few spaces and hand the die off, but I feel like that is a necessary part of any well-structured strategy game. You can't have conflict and intense action on every single turn or there wouldn't be much time for strategy. "Parts of the game are poorly made" - Now, the boats are fantastic. Very high level detail and durability. Not every part of the game is on that level. But we own A LOT of games. The rest of the games, including the board pieces, the cards and even the spinners are as good or better than what you find in most other games. Some games feel like they tried to produce it as cheaply as possible, and that is not the case with Plunder. "The game is repetitive and drags on." - Well, it can, I suppose. But since the finish line has to do with plunder points, if people are working their strategy to get the last couple they need to seal the deal, and others are actively working to block them, there is nothing repetitive about the later turns. It usually turns into a constant back and forth battle with 2-3 players having a serious chance at victory. "The game isn't interesting after the first play. Replayability offers nothing new" - The main parts of the game are the competing strategies. Every game we have played has had the same lineup of 5 people, 3 of them kids. There has been a wide range of flows and rhythms to them. Yeah, the treasure cards don't change. and there are a few features that universally seem to pan out similarly, but most of our plays have had completely different feels to them. It is a favorite of 2 of my 3 kids. All in all, if you are looking for a well made, thoughtful game that can accommodate up to 6 players and features a Catan-like feel with the addition of direct player on player conflict, this is worth a look. Our family loves it and we are very satisfied with our purchase.

This really is a terrific game that goes above and beyond on all fronts. It’s terrific for a party game because there can be 6 players, the rules are relatively simple, and setup is quick. There’s really so many different aspects of this product that are positive it’s difficult to figure out where to start. First, like I mentioned the setup and gameplay is a breeze. It eliminates some of the upfront frustration of some of the more complicated games; especially when playing with younger players. All of the pieces are high quality and durable. I was really impressed with the weight of the ships and the durability of the smaller parts like the sails and cannons. The randomization of the play field is fun. It makes for some subtle differences from game to game. The gameplay is simple but encourages interactions and has enough “gotcha” moments it creates some good “ohs” and “awes” from the players. The randomization of the treasure has created numerous situations where a player who was down and out has been able to get back in the game and win. Finally, the subtle detail that plenty of board games miss the mark on: storage. They have a spot for every last piece. It makes put away and setup so much easier. I can’t say enough about how well the storage is designed for this game.

I stumbled upon this game while looking for board games to help to pass the time and was immediately drawn to the art style of the board and the concept of a pirate-based game. Despite never hearing of it before, it seemed reasonably priced compared to other strategy games, so I figured "why not." After playing this game three times the night it arrived and three more times a day later, I can safely say that this game is absolutely worth it and a blast to play, especially 1v1. The goal of the game is relatively simple - acquire enough "Plunder Points" to become the greatest pirate before your opponent manages the same. These points are earned through purchasing them outright with Gold resources, building ships, conquering islands, finding buried treasure, and sinking your rivals' ships as you compete with one another. The art on the board pieces and resource cards is beautiful and very stylistic, with both being well made and durable. The rules are not too complicated and easy to pick up - we only had to reference the rules once during gameplay after reviewing them before the first playthrough. The included reference cards provide a quick, easy way of managing what you can purchase with your accumulated resources such as ship upgrades - masts and cannons for more maneuverability and attack power - extra lives, additional ships, or Plunder Points. The game pieces are hardy, and all of the extra pieces fit perfectly into their designated slot. Additionally, the map tiles are reversible with alternative layouts so that you can generate a different play area for each game to allow for a different experience each time. While the objective is to gain the 10 Plunder Points, players can choose various methods to attain this goal, meaning that no two playthroughs will end up the same. In the first run, I focused on combat by sinking my opponent's ship early and finding treasure spots to chase the win. During the next game, my opponent concentrated on taking over as many islands as they could to generate more resource cards for upgrades and direct purchases of Plunder Points to secure victory. Finding treasure can result in a boon of wealth and resources, or offer less beneficial effects such as gaining gold at the loss of wood, or force swapping cards with another player. The continually moving and random path of the Storm can also help or hinder, as you can try to force your opponent into the area or become stuck yourself. Similarly, moving treasure spots ensure that everyone has a chance at finding loot, though some players may end up lucky enough to wind up with multiple treasure spots in their immediate path. Not always hostile, player interaction can also be inspired by offering bribes to avoid being attacked, or trading resource cards towards mutual benefit. Depending on playstyle, and with a bit of random luck from dice rolls, our 2-player games have lasted from 20 minutes to an hour. Plunder: A Pirate's Life is an excellent addition to any household and is absolutely worth the investment. I'm looking forward to playing more, and this will definitely be a go-to game for our home.

I bought this as a very last minute thought for my husband for Christmas, admittedly not expecting much. We own and have played all the Catans. We have lots of other strategy/society building style games. I couldn’t imagine anything new, fun or reimagined among the game genre, but this game was very fun. It takes awhile to read the directions. And another hot minute (an hour or more) to learn the rules and play a whole game, but once you go through it a couple times it’s fairly quick and very enjoyable. We love the large, chunky, weighted ships. The added crew, masts and canons are cute and sturdy. The overall game play is challenging, but not difficult. We strongly recommend!

Game is a lot of fun. So much so that my teenage boys named their captains of each ship and even started to give their captains back stories. We took it to the next level and played sea shanties while playing. Only downside was not having enough cannon or life pieces for ships with more than 4 players.

Complex but not convoluted. Challenging and fun. The 2nd best $50 purchase I've made. (1st being the adoption fee of my cat, Sisko) This game is beautiful with several cool pieces and was a huge hit at game night! I was even encouraged to write this positive review by the other players! I was looking for up to 6 players without elimination and replayability. This game fit the criteria, and I couldn't be more satisfied with my purchase! Thank You!